Inspired by Linda Lang - Part 1

One of Jessica's homework tasks this week is to recreate a painting by the artist Linda Lang, whose work they have been studying in school as part of their current topic "Ice". Invited to use a medium of their choice, Jessica opted to depict Watching the Iceberg Calve in two ways - shaving foam marbling and encaustic wax art. She spent hours on these this afternoon and they are worthy of separate posts so I'm going to just look at the marbling for the moment.

We hadn't had a huge amount of success with shaving foam marbling before but the swirls of ice and sea on the painting were screaming out to be marbled so we gave it another go. This time we got it right and it was a lot of fun so I thought I'd share our simple steps...

1. Squirt shaving foam into a shallow tray (an old baking sheet is ideal), lather it up and spread it out.

2. Slacken down some acrylic paint with a little water and drip onto the shaving foam. I have also read that liquid watercolours and food colouring work well.

3. Use a skewer, cocktail stick or similar to swirl the paint around in the foam. You can do this one colour at a time or add all of your colour in one go and swirl altogether.

4. Place your card or paper on top of the foam. You will need to gently but firmly smooth the paper down all over to ensure contact and transfer.

5. Lift the paper off and scrape the foam off, holding the paper down and scraping from one side of the paper to the other. An old credit card is ideal for this but anything rigid with a flat edge would do. Make sure you have something to put the removed foam into so that you can clean the scraper between strips.

6. Allow to dry off and use to make greetings cards or just enjoy the pretty patterns. Jessica added the finishing touch of three penguins in the bottom right hand corner to complete her Linda Lang inspired painting. Can you spot them?!

Shredded Easter Egg Nest

Eggs definitely belong in a nest so Jessica and I made one to house our polystyrene eggs this year. The process we used is something of a mix between papier mache and decoupage. Jessica was thrilled with shredding magazines while I enjoyed layering up the nest.

Right, here's the how to...

1. Shred plenty of pages from a magazine. I think we probably did about 8 sheets but it depends how big and solid you want your nest or bowl to be.

2. Line a bowl with cling film that is the shape you would like to replicate.

3. Mix PVA glue and water in the ratio of roughly 1:1.

4. Paint a layer of glue and water mixture onto the cling film and start layering paper on top of it in different directions.

5. After placing about half a dozen strips paint these over with the glue mixture and keep layering.

6. Keep repeating the layering and gluing until you're happy with the thickness. This doesn't have to be done all in one go. Take as long as you like over the nest and make it as thick as you fancy!

7. Allow the nest/bowl to dry completely at which point you will be able to easily peel the clingfilm away from the paper.

8. Trim the edges if you want to tidy them up a bit.

Here are a couple of shots of our nest in progress...

Tissue Paper Tulips

We have our first tulips out in the garden and our fishy suncatchers were looking a little sad so we've made a few tissue paper tulips to brighten up our windows. I love the authentic looking droopy leaves! 

To make these we:

1. cut tulip shape apertures from a piece of purple paper

2. covered with contact paper

3. stuck small pieces of tissue paper to the contact paper until the whole tulip was covered

4. cut around the tulip leaving a thin purple border

5. taped a tissue paper stem and leaf to the back of the tulip

6. taped to the window

Melted Crayon Art

Finally for the big one. Melted crayon art! This was a lot of fun but took a long time and a whole lot of crayons (nearly 80 I believe!). I just wish I’d used the same type of crayon from the very beginning because it would have been beautifully uniform then with just the smartie like blobs of melted crayon rather than the very runny or particularly stringy patches that you might be able to spot on the close up shots. It was the first time I’d tried it though and I didn’t know just how differently the brands and sorts of crayons would react. I’d read that different colours melted at different rates but I suppose the composition of the crayons are different by different manufacturers too.

Anyway, here’s what I did…

I attached six photos of our wonderful (?!) children to a large canvas using double sided sticky tape first. Next I removed the crayons from their wrappers or plastic barrels and heated up my glue gun, which has rarely been used to glue anything ready to feed the crayons through. I found that by far the best crayons to use were Crayola twistables and I was glad that it’s “Back to School” time because the current deals saved me a fair bit of money. These were the best both in terms of controlled melting and size to feed through the gun as they are only fractionally narrower than the glue sticks themselves so the trigger mechanism still worked perfectly. Hours and many, many crayons later I was satisfied with the result and I’m pleased to report that my glue gun still works with glue sticks too, which was a bonus and I was fully prepared for it to become my crayon gun only.  I wonder how many crayons it would have taken to cover the whole thing…

   

Number Cushion

The inspiration behind this cushion came from an A-Z quilt in one of my mother-in-law’s crafting books. I’ve still never made a quilt and have not used blanket stitch before either so I thought I’d practise on a number cushion first. If I was going to do it again I think I would make the panels slightly smaller and border the lot before backing it but in general I’m really happy with the result.

Here are the steps I took to create the piece:

1. My cushion was 18 inch square so I cut each individual square for the patchwork to 7 inches allowing for a half an inch seam on all four sides.

2. I traced the letters back to front onto bondaweb and fused it to my fabrics with an iron.

3. Each number was cut out, placed in the centre of the individual squares and fused in place with an iron.

4. I blanket stitched each letter in place for decoration and security using two strands of embroidery silk in various colours.

5. I machined the patchwork doing a row at a time then stitching the rows together making sure that I ironed the seams open each time.

6. I cut a piece of yellow fabric 19 by 22 inches and split it somewhere along the longest side to create two rectangles each with a 19 inch side for the back panel.

7. I pinned the two rectangles to the front of the numbers, one to the top and the other to the bottom. Then folded the inside edges back to make the edges tidy but leaving an overlap for fastening.

8. I machined all four edges then turned the cushion cover the right way out.

9. I attached three poppers to the overlapped edges on the back to create a secure fastening to the cushion case after putting the cushion inside to ensure that they sit right when the cover is all plumped up.

Here’s a closer look at some of the parts:

     

How to make a Sierpinski Christmas Tree

This Christmas tree (which is yet to be completed) is inspired by the Sierpinski triangle fractal. The image below shows the progression of the fractal at different levels of complexity.

 

The number of black triangles in each diagram forms the geometrical progression 1, 3, 9, 27, … . It is an example of a fractal, which means that it has a self-similar structure and you can see the same pattern repeated over and over again.

My challenge with Year 10 this year was to take this design into three dimensions and create a fractal Christmas tree. We started with regular tetrahedrons constructed with a pair of compasses and a straight edge. In just an hour the girls managed to create one and a half level 4 fractals each containing 4³ = 64 tetrahedrons. They worked really hard and I promised them that somehow I’d get up to the next level of fractal, which has a total of 256 tetrahedrons in it. My Year 12s and 13s helped but I was only just over half way through at the end of the day and I’m still working on it now!

This is the first one that they created:

So, this is how to do it…

1. Create the nets of four tetrahedrons and sellotape or glue them together to make a larger tetrahedron. Do this by taping three tetrahedron together on the base and adding a fourth one above.

    

2. Remember that fractals require a self-similar structure so you now need to make four of these structures and tape together to make the next stage in the fractal.

    

3. Repeat this process as many times as you like. Create four of the current structures and tape them together in exactly the same way.

I’ll post the finished tree sometime in the middle of next week, then I just have to find an appropriate place to keep it safe. It’s going to be beautiful!

[Here's a link to the finished tree - it's huge!]

Knitted Phone Sock

It’s official – not only can I knit but I can also make useful (& pretty?) things from my knitting. This is the first piece of knitting that I have ever done (almost) entirely on my own. I just had a couple of tiny hiccups along the way that Barbara kindly helped me to fix this weekend. It’s tight and I used completely inappropriate needles for the job but my stitches are even and I’m really proud of the end result. I made it for my wonderful Mum who had a significant birthday this week. She says she thinks it’s wonderful but she has to say that! David chose the buttons for it and I think you’ll agree that he made an excellent selection.

So, here’s how I did it…

First I cast-on with 40 stitches, which took up about 14cm on my size 12 needles. I then knitted three rows before turning to stocking stitch (knit a row, purl a row). Once I hit 10cm I did a further three knitted rows and cast off. This left me with a knitted rectangle 14cm by 11cm.

I sewed the two 11cm edges together and stitched one of the 14cm edges together (inside out) to form a closed tube. I then secured three strands of wool inside the pouch and threaded them through to the outside before plaiting them and securing the ends back on the inside.

Finally, David selected the buttons and I sewed them onto the front of the phone sock – beautiful!

Art from Mathematics?

I read an article on WonderHowTo about making Art from Mathematics and decided to give it a go. This piece is all about Fibonacci and the Golden Spiral.

I started by drawing two 1cm by 1cm squares next to each other. Underneath these I drew a 2cm by 2cm square. Working anticlockwise I then added a 3cm square, 5cm square and so on until my canvas was completely covered. This produces a sequence of squares with side lengths 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, … since each new square sits next to the previous two. A sequence that we all recognise as the Fibonacci numbers, don’t we?! Anyway, the Golden Spiral is created from these squares by constructing quarter circles in each square as shown below…

My artwork required me to complete each quarter circle into a complete one so that I was left with circles of radius 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 and 21cm. Thankfully my compass just about stretched to the 21cm.

I have now painted the piece with acrylics and it will hang alongside my string art in my classroom from tomorrow morning. I wonder how long it will take my classes to notice the Mathematics hidden within it! Those Year 10s who regularly read my blog (you know who you are – and did ask for a shout out!!!) are excluded from the competition!

Upcycled Bag

Ok, so only parts of this bag for Preet are upcycled but we all have to start somewhere! I made this birthday present on my new sewing machine, which I am definitely getting better with but there is still significant room for improvement with my patchwork. My flash has made the colours look slightly more lurid than they actually.

I started by forming the lining of the bag, which also forms the top trim that you can see on the photo above. This is made from a pillow, meaning I only needed to sew one side saving me time and enabling me to legitimately claim that this is an upcycled bag.

To form the patchwork front I used my  patchwork templates for the first time. They did speed things up but I found it hard to stop them slipping on the shiny fabrics that I was using. I started from the centre and worked out. I used some of the fabulous fabrics that Preet has given me over the past few months so I’m hoping she’s going to love getting them back in this format.

I managed to sew some of the pieces together perfectly…

Other pieces not so well…

12 squares and 8 triangles later I had a patchwork front completed. I then cut a single piece of fabric for the back and stitched them together before inserting the lining. Turning the lining over a couple of times at the top gave a neat finish to the top of the bag. I decided to use one of my fancy stitches along the top.

The other part of the bag that is upcycled is the handles, which are made from my sister’s old curtains again. I take a strip of material and iron it in half lengthways. Open out the fabric again and then fold both sides into the middle and close up to make a long thin piece that is four layers thick. I iron this firmly and then secure on the sewing machine. I tried another new stitch on these.

Finally, given that the visible stitching is all in purple I decided to add a crocheted flower for added interest and personality.

Construct the perfect Easter egg

As a mathematician, I like the geometry of my craft work to be perfect and have a secret passion for constructions (my pupils may not agree that this is a secret). In addition, tomorrow is the last day of our spring term so I am feeling the urge to embrace Easter a little early. Constructing an Easter egg is a great activity to do with years 7 or 8 but I missed my last lesson with Year 7 this week so I shall share the construction on here instead. I’d love to say that I have the skill to have produced this video but I’ve shamelessly stolen it from YouTube. The construction is done in real time and explains each step as you go along. Why not give it a try and make a perfectly proportioned Easter egg for someone special!

Hummingbird cushion

My second attempt at making a beaded cushion was much more successful than the first. This was entirely due to transferring the pattern onto tissue paper (rather than using standard plain paper) and stitching through this onto my fabric. The tissue paper was very easy to remove and didn’t put the stiches under any pressure.

Once the tissue paper was removed I attached four widths of some complementary fabric around the design. I had a few issues with this fabric as it frayed incredibly easily and I had fears that it would tangle my sewing machine but I got there in the end.

Finally, I backed the cushion with a yellow fabric that matches the flowers in the border and stuffed it nice and plump. I’m thrilled with the result and can’t wait to hand it over as a thirtieth birthday present.

To accompany the present I made a very quick card…

Stitched Christmas Trees with Year 10

I only had a single lesson (35 minutes) with Year 10 today so I chose to make one of my simplest cards with them. They all did very well with several completing the stitched Christmas tree on gold or silver card, mounting it on black paper before gluing it onto a white card and embellishing with a holographic star. I don’t have any photos of the actual cards but they are based on the following design, which is one of my own…

I produced a powerpoint to talk them through making the stitched tree so I thought I’d also share the instructions on here for anyone that’s interested. I originally made the template by drawing a triangle and measuring equally spaced holes on each side with the left hand side holes sitting in the middle of those on the right hand side. To place the trunk in the correct place I constructed an angle bisector to be as accurate as possible but measuring would be fine for anyone that’s not an over enthusiastic Maths teacher!

This triangle has significantly less holes than the ones that Year 10 completed today but there are enough to understand the general principle and get the hang of the pattern.
	Starting in the bottom left hand hole ensures that the pattern is as easy as possible to follow so cellotape your thread to the back of the card and stitch as shown here. Out on the right, in on the left.
Now come back out on the left hand side one hole up and stitch back to the original hole on the right hand side. This is the pattern that you follow for the whole design, on the back you move up one hole on the same side and on the front you stitch across to the hole that you’ve already used.
	Once you’ve reached the top you can go back to the bottom and stitch the final two parts to make the trunk. So simple but also incredibly effective I think.

They seemed to enjoy the activity, many of them stayed well into break to finish it. One noted that this was like a “knit & natter” session, they really are old before their time! I also had a request to do the string art with them later in the year, which I blogged about in the summer when I did it with my current Year 11s. I really do love spreading my enthusiasm for crafting!